Volume 1

A selection of the correspondence of Linnaeus and other naturalists, from the original manuscripts / by Sir James Edward Smith.

  • Linné, Carl von, 1707-1778.
Date:
1821
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A selection of the correspondence of Linnaeus and other naturalists, from the original manuscripts / by Sir James Edward Smith. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    PREFACE. THE epistolary correspondence of eminent characters is generally an object of curiosity. This may arise from an opinion that the writers are there likely to appear with less disguise, and under a more easy and familiar aspect, than in studied compositions intended for the publick eye. Hence the letters of pro- fessed authors have always been perused with avidity; though possibly not invariably written without a latent expectation of their being one day seen and admired beyond the limits of confidential privacy. The letters here presented to the publick were probably not written with any such ex- pectation ; or, if they were, it was an expecta- tion of their being consulted as registers of plain facts and scientific remarks. The effu- sions of the heart, which they not unfrequently contain, were certainly not poured out in os- tentation, or to display brilliant sentiments, rather than warm affections. These effusions will principally be found in the correspondence